Multinational oil company Unocal has defended its presence in some of the world’s human rights hotspots with a corporate responsibility report that claims it is making a positive contribution to local communities in countries such as Burma and Indonesia.
Unocal says its philanthropic contributions reached an all time high of $7 million last year – up from $5 million in 1997 and $3.5 million in 1996 – due to a series of humanitarian projects designed to counter the effects of the south east Asian economic crisis.
In Indonesia last year it provided medical supplies to four public hospitals, supported a food programme for mothers and infants through the UN International Children’s Fund (UNICEF), drilled wells to help with water shortages and built 14 family clinics.
In Burma (also known as Myanmar), where it is investing in a $1 billion natural gas project, it says all its workers are paid higher than average wages and that the project is linked to a three year socio-economic programme. This has provided doctors and health clinics to 13 surrounding villages ‘where there were previously none’ and has helped infant mortality rates in the area drop to less than half the national average. It has also created ‘a dramatic improvement in living standards’.
One of the world’s largest oil and gas exploration and production companies, employing 7600 people worldwide, Unocal has consistently refused to pull out of countries where oppressive regimes hold power, claiming it can operate as an ‘island of integrity’ wherever it does business.
Company president John Imle has argued that engagement with Burma’s military rulers may be more effective than economic isolation, which would be ‘a cruel trick’ on the country’s 50 million people.
The new report judges Unocal’s progress against its corporate responsibility policy agreed in November 1998, and promises to provide regular updates through the company’s website.
But it also sets new objectives, including a commitment to increase workforce diversity.
Although 40 per cent of Unocal’s workforce now consists of non-US nationals – compared with 20 per cent in 1980 – it wants to increase the number of local people hired in each of its operations and reduce reliance on expatriates in businesses outside the US.
In the Philippines, Unocal has sent more than 200 national employees for advanced training overseas so they can fill more senior positions.
It also says there is ‘room for improvement’ in the diversity of its US workforce. The number of ethnic minority workers occupying managerial or professional jobs fell to 21 per cent last year from 24 per cent the previous year, and women accounted for only one in five of such positions.
Unocal reported net earnings of $40 million in the first nine months of 1999, on revenue of £4.37 billion.